Fueled by my family’s need for revenge, I was on a bloody path toward vengeance. That’s when I found her—a filthy, weak, broken girl.

The mystery that surrounded her seduced me. Her secrets pulled me down to the deepest pits of hell, the demons of her past threatening to burn the empire I swore to protect.

Now the devil himself is knocking at my door, wanting his beautiful, broken girl back.

But she’s mine now. I claimed her. And anyone who dares to take her away from me will be completely, utterly, royally…

Fucked.

As I walked into the room, Nessuno was still right there where I left her, on her knees, her forehead against the floor. The sight of her naked body posed in the purest form of submission brought flashbacks of the past to the forefront of my mind.

The adrenaline.

The lust.

The electric excitement of anticipation.

The fucking control. It was all there, right at my goddamn feet, like an offering. A sacrifice for the caged beast within me.

For a few moments, I looked at her, watched as her back moved ever so slightly with every breath she took. The scars and marks on her body seemed illuminated under the light. The only things missing from the scene in front of me were chains…and me.

I pulled my hand down my face. After all this time fighting it, I now found myself in a position where my family’s only hope was for me to embrace my own depravity. My cross.

“Jesus,” I muttered under my breath before glancing down at Nessuno again. There was no other option but this.

I walked toward her and grabbed the chair, placing it in front of her. With a deep breath, I took a seat, my gaze still fixed on her naked back. Her scars.

It was bittersweet, this moment. The moment when I was forced to stop fighting…and to unchain the darkness. Who would have thought the one thing that had the power to destroy me now had the power to give us all the answers we needed?

Irony, you son of a bitch.

I reached out then stilled as my hand hovered over her. My chest ached, yet my blackened soul pulsed with exhilaration. My head screamed at me not to do this, but the curse of my nature pressed me further.

And then my desperation for answers and vengeance gave me the final push I needed to fall over the edge.

I placed my hand on her head and felt her suck in a breath at the same time a wave of power crashed against my spine. For the first time in years, I allowed myself to feel what I had denied myself for so long—the lethal combination of control, power…and ecstasy.

Like an owner to his pet, I stroked my fingers through her hair, one simple act which relayed one powerful message. I was taking ownership. Staking my claim.

Nessuno was now mine.

All the way from Cape Town, South Africa, Bella J lives for the days when she’s able to retreat to her writer’s cave where she can get lost in her little pretend world of romance, love, and insanely hot bad boys.

Bella J is a Hybrid Author with both Self-Published and Traditional Published work. Even though her novels range from drama, to comedy, to suspense, it's the dark, twisted side of romance she loves the most.